This invention relates to tampon-applicator assemblies and is particularly directed toward such assemblies provided in a compact, unobtrusive, conveniently short form.
Many applicators for introducing catamenial tampons intervaginally have been suggested in the art and several are now on the market. The kind in widest use comprises an open ended tubular holder containing the tampon and is combined with a plunger adapted to slideably expel the tampon from the holder. The plunger is also generally tubular, though smaller in diameter than the holder, and is telescopically positioned therein so that by moving the plunger into one end of the holder, the tampon may be ejected from the opposite end. The holder is, of necessity, longer than the tampon and, to insure complete ejection of the tampon from the holder, the plunger is generally longer than the holder. Consequently, the overall length of the holder and plunger assembly is always more than twice the length of the tampon.
Several drawbacks are associated with such prior tampon-applicator assemblies. To provide sufficient assemblies for a menstrual period, it is customary to package a number of these, e.g., ten, in a single container. From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the tampon applicators and hence the containers used to package them are comparatively large with respect to the article, i.e., the tampon, ultimately used by the consumer. The necessity for large containers greatly adds to the cost of the marketed product, such added cost being particularly important in products of the kind herein considered, i.e., products intended for a single use and thereafter discarded. Accordingly, there is an economic incentive for a reduction in product size.
Perhaps even more importantly, a size reduction is advantageous from both a convenience and an aesthetic point of view. Firstly, the product should be small enough to be conveniently carried in a woman's purse. Secondly, from an aesthetic viewpoint, a shorter more compact product is less noticeable and hence less embarrassing.
The prior art now abounds with suggestions of prior investigators for avoiding this problem of excessive length. I believe that none of these prior suggestions has reached commercial fruition primarily because of shortcomings in such design which add cost, complexity or functional inconvenience to the product.
In a series of prior art suggestions (see for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,115,876; 3,424,159; 3,059,642; 3,034,508; 3,103,929; 3,831,605; 3,090,385) it has been suggested that the plunger and holder be provided in assembled form or hinged together so that they may be packaged side by side, thereby substantially reducing the overall length of the packed tampon-applicator assembly. Such designs have not met with commercial success and, it is believed that this is because, in addition to the complexity and expense in manufacturing the products the user does not wish to be faced with the added operation of reassembling the plunger/holder combination into the operable configuration.
Another approach to a solution for the problem of excessive length is exemplified by U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 833,20l, filed on Sept. 14, 1977, by Michael Loyer. In accordance with this method, the tampon enclosed or partially enclosed within a holder is provided with an inner, axially extending bore in which the plunger resides prior to use. In use, the plunger is first pulled or screwed out of the bore, then locked in place and reciprocated toward the tampon to eject the same from the holder. While the operation of this kind of applicator assembly is relatively simple, unfortunately the concept involves a specially designed tampon having the required inner bore. Both because of the added difficulty of manufacturing such a tampon at high speed and because of the disadvantageous functional consequences resulting from a tampon of this kind, the solution suggested by Loyer has not been satisfactory.
Still another suggestion for solving the excessive length problem is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,832,342 and 3,101,713. This concept involves providing a tampon applicator assembly comprising two concentric tubes, providing one such tube nested within the other, and having the tampon provided within the inner tube. The inner tube is then reciprocated axially almost completely out of the outer tube and means are provided for preventing the tampon from being reciprocated along with the inner tube. Accordingly, when the inner tube is in its reciprocated position, the tampon now resides within the outer tube and along side the inner tube. The inner tube is then reciprocated toward the tampon and hence acts as a plunger for expelling the tampon from the remote end of the outer tube.
The problem with this suggestion is that in order for the inner tube to act as a plunger, the inner tube must in some way bear against the tampon. In both of the above-described patents, this is accomplished by selecting a tampon and sizing the diameters and thicknesses of the inner and outer tubes in such manner that when the tampon is transferred from the inner tube to the outer tube, the tampon expands in diameter to fill the outer tube. Accordingly, with the tampon now having a diameter equal to the inside diameter of the outer tube and also equal to the outside diameter of the inner tube, the walls of the inner tube will bear against the peripheral portions of the end of the tampon during the expulsion step.
There are several drawbacks encounted by this technique of obtaining bearing surface for the plunger. Firstly, the method is only applicable to relatively resiliently compressed tampons. In contrast thereto, the highly compressed cellulosic tampons do not generally have the resiliency to spring back and fill the outer tube upon being released from the inner tube. Secondly, the necessity of providing the tampon in a resilient compressed state also implies that the tampon in the packed state will be exerting pressure on the walls of the inner tube and, after this inner tube is retracted, on the walls of the outer tube. This pressure substantially increases the frictional resistance generated between the walls of the respective tubes and the tampon when retracting the tampon from the inner tube and expelling the tampon from the outer tube. It is highly undesirable to have any substantial resistance to these operations and, in fact, the frictional resistance should ideally be no more than is required for holding the tampon within the applicator assembly prior to use.
In view of the above, no completely satisfactory system has heretofore been devised for solving the excessive length problem.